Student and staff attendance has increased over the last two school years. For 2024-25, student attendance was 89% (88.8% in 2023-24), certified staff attendance was 92.5% (90.9% in 2023-24), classified staff attendance was 91.5% (86.5% in 2023-24) and administrator staff attendance was 92.7% (91.1% in 2023-24).
“The secret to success isn’t a secret: It starts with showing up,” said Superintendent Bob Hill. “Every day in class builds momentum towards a productive future. Families can support this effort by keeping school info up to date, working with teachers, planning appointments after hours and ensuring kids get enough sleep.”
To help with this, they have printed “attendance scoreboards” at several buildings that show monthly or quarterly attendance data. The scoreboards “celebrate wins socially and take accountability for shortcomings,” Leinasars said.
A few other measures the district has taken to share attendance awareness with families include:
- Billboard campaigns, building signs and social media messaging.
- Increased phone communication between building leaders, secretaries and families.
- Streamlined attendance collection and student absence review through improved data platforms.
- Created individualized success plans for families who may be struggling with attendance.
- Participation in the Stay in the Game Attendance Network, which prioritizes attendance by connecting its users to resources aimed at tackling chronic absenteeism, through the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce (ODEW).
Chronically absent students in Ohio are 65% less likely to meet the third grade reading guarantee and 89% less likely to graduate high school on time, according to the ODEW.
If a student misses two days of school a month, they’ll miss the equivalent of one year of class instruction by their high school graduation. That figure is doubled if the student were to miss four days of school a month.
One of the district’s messages to families, Leinasars said, is that ‘Every Minute Matters’," Arriving five minutes late every day to school equals two days of school lost per minute, and a student who is consistently 20 minutes late will lose out on nearly eight and a half school days.
There are several potential barriers to attending school such as lack of transportation, maintaining a job to provide for their family, child or sibling care, or an unstable home environment.
“It’s important to remember that every student’s situation is different from their peer’s,” Leinasars said.
The district uses a multi-tiered approach to support student attendance habits. They are:
Tier 1, geared toward students who are absent up to 10 days a year, involves directly contacting families about the importance of daily attendance, diligent attendance taken by staff to begin the school day, reviewing attendance data and encouraging students to participate in clubs or activities.
Tier 2, geared towards students who are absent 11 to 17 days a year, results in an attendance contract meeting with students and families to create an individual monthly attendance goal calendar and attendance report card, attendance officers identify at-risk students and hold Attendance Improvement Plan meetings, and building counselors support any identified needs and direct those to the appropriate departments.
Tier 3, geared towards students who are absent 17 or more days a year, involves attendance officers conducting home visits and facilitating a student daily or weekly check in with a staff mentor, and may request a prosecuting attorney letter in extreme circumstances.
Last school year, attendance officers completed 4,646 phone calls to families, 1,562 home visits, 6,275 letters home and 852 mediations, Leinasars said.
Proactive attendance habits are also incentivized with enjoyable activities at each building, such as ice cream parties and special field trips. Leinasars said there are also plans to regularly recognize the buildings that come up with creative ways to promote good attendance and have the largest rate of change compared to the previous year’s attendance rate.
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